What Is a Diet for Body Fat Reduction?

What Is a Diet for Body Fat Reduction?
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Body fat occurs when calories remain not broken down in the body, Gale Maleskey, a nutritional therapist and author of the 1999 book "Nature's Medicines: The Definitive Guide to health Supplements" reports. Instead, calories turn into lipids and enter fat cells. Your number of fat cells increases when exercise is less than what is needed for consumed food calories. A diet filled with saturated fats such as mayonnaise, butter and saturated oil, processed foods and noncomplex carbohydrates such as candy and doughnuts will lead to increased body fat.

Exercise

You cannot achieve success in body fat reduction without exercise, the American Podiatric Medical Association reports. Exercising at least three to four times a week will reduce body fat. Take long walks and enjoy the sunshine. If you want, join a gym and make new friends. Being encouraged by others to lose body fat helps.

Water

Water helps to rid your body of toxic waste and helps lower body fat. Drinking at least six to eight glasses of water a day will help decrease the amount of food you crave and eat at mealtime. Water helps to soften your skin and will make you feel better and have more energy.

Breakfast

Choose complex carbohydrates for breakfast such as a piece of fruit, the Mayo Clinic suggests. Adding whole-grain and oat breads will help in your intake of roughage and lower body fat. White bread is mostly processed with little health benefit. Eating a cereal fortified with minerals and vitamins such as a fiber cereal without added sugar remains a healthy choice. Hard-boiled eggs are healthier than eggs cooked in butter. Sprinkling a bit of pepper and avoiding salt helps decrease water retention. Your kidneys will work less and your body will be rid of toxins easier. Include a cup of skim milk with breakfast.

Midmorning Snack

Having a piece of fruit and some skim milk will help to maintain normal blood sugars in your body. Apples remain natural sugar stabilizers for diabetics who need healthy foods in their diet, Maleskey reports. You will benefit from apples because of their natural nutrition and added roughage to your diet. Pectin, a digestive enzyme found in apples, helps to break down food in digestion.

Lunchtime

Lunchtime can include a salad filled with fresh greens and fresh vegetables. Avoid saturated fats. Use peanut butter on your bread instead of butter. One cup of salad will replenish nutrients lost in your natural aging process and exercise, providing B vitamins to speed up your metabolism, Laurel Dewey, nutritional specialist and author of "Amazing Herbal Remedies" reports. Eat whole-grain and oat bread equaling one slice. Spread a teaspoon of peanut butter on the bread. Add a cup of skim milk for protein and calcium. Eating healthy will help lower body fat.

Dinner or Supper

Eat lighter at dinnertime. A light dinner sometimes is called supper. A 3-oz. piece of fish or a piece of meat the size of your palm will provide protein, calcium and B vitamins. Eat a raw vegetable and piece of fruit to help lower body fat. If you remain hungry, a slice of oat-nut bread will help curb your appetite, Maleskey says.

Late-Evening Snack

This snack depends on the bedtime hour you keep. Avoid eating a large meal before sleep. This will help prevent buildup of body fat. Eat a piece of fruit and drink a glass of skim milk a couple of hours before you retire.

References

Article reviewed by Marie Slade Last updated on: Jul 16, 2011

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